We did (the ads) to show that Cooper Green was open and provided health care services," County Manager Tony Petelos.

Rick Journey

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Two Birmingham-area public relations firms were paid more than $65,000 in bankruptcy expenses to publicize a new model of health care in Jefferson County, according to records.

Rick Journey, a former television personality, and another company were paid a total of $311,615 with $65,451 in expenses for work to advertise that the former Cooper Green Mercy Hospital had become an urgent care facility with clinics.

Journey, who worked at FOX 6 for 13 years, said he was paid under "an engagement" deal with Birmingham-based law firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, who helped handle the county's bankruptcy case.

Journey said a "significant" amount of expenses were related to Cooper Green.

Some commissioners said they were not aware of the specifics of the arrangement and said a contract should have come before the full commission for approval.

Journey, of Rick Journey 360 LLC, a public relations and consulting firm, and a separate company, Wilbron Institute , LLC, billed the county for expenses from October 2012 through November 2013.Expenses included $26,205 for broadcast/radio advertising; $12,236 for graphics creation, production, revision, printing and $7,329 for web development and support, according to records.

Asked about the connection between Cooper Green and the county's bankruptcy, Journey said:

"Cooper Green was obviously a significant event with Jefferson County in that period of time. In a lot of people's minds immediately you looked at one and connected with the other and had a perception that it was all part of the same process," he said.

"So our challenge was to educate and inform the public, as best we could, on particular issues as it related to bankruptcy throughout that overall operation of the county during that period of time," he said.

Brandon Wilson, of Wilbron, declined to comment.

Not aware

Commissioners Sandra Little Brown, George Bowman and Joe Knight said they were not aware of the specifics in the arrangement between Journey and Bradley Arant. Commissioner Jimmie Stephens said he knew Journey and Wilbron were working for the county but "not to what extent." Efforts to reach Commission President David Carrington for comment were unsuccessful.

Bowman said the matter should have come to the attention of the commission.

"For these expenses to come through Bradley Arant, and not directly through the commission as an item we would approve, hides in a sense this expenditure under the guise of paying for bankruptcy costs," Bowman said.

Patrick Darby, of Bradley Arant declined to comment.

However, County Manager Tony Petelos said the PR contract was needed because of the amount of criticism leveled at the commission's decision to downsize the county-owned hospital for the poor.

County officials have said they wanted to properly inform the public of what was going on and to make sure the sick poor knew when, and where, to go if they needed health services.

"There was a lot of misinformation disseminated and we did (the ads) to show that Cooper Green was open and provided health care services," Petelos said.